I have wrapped the salt can with saran wrap and sealed the seam with duct tape. It might leak some. Do you think it would hold up long enough for the form to set?? I will most likely fill it with sand.. it will just pour out and keep it from floating up. sorry but things have been busy in the garden and a fishing trip or 2. spent the day getting supplies to plant some pots make more tufa. Glad to say the new vermiculite I got was small bb sized stuff compared to the large junk from HD. I also played caddy shack today and worked on baiting for moles.. not easy. and it was a hot one over 80. Hope to mix it up in the am.

I did not coat it before mosaicing it. I really should have. It had old paint on it so I'm hoping that will help. I am going to put grout sealer on the mosaic part. It's a new spray on foam type of sealer they sell at lowes. Made by 'AquaMix'. It says good for indoors and outdoors. Then I'm going to spray the dowel part and the base of the bhouse with a couple coats of clear acrylic.

Hi, Thanks for all the compliments. The license plates can be cut with tin snips, or a jigsaw with a metal blade. They can also be bent by clamping them between two pieces of wood or metal that have strong edges. Line up the edge where you need it "cut". Score across it with an old knife or screwdriver and bend it back and forth. It should break right on the line. Hope that makes sense. You caught me, plumbelly. That sure is a caution sign, lol. My rules for the birdhouses is that the stuff will last outside and be interesting and that the roof is big enough to protect them. They're all primed and painted with exterior paint products and have little 'feet', in this case, stainless steel drawer pulls, so they won't sit in water. Decorating Cents had a good idea for license plates. They attached them to a board, framed it and it was a magnetic bulletin board. This will work with the steel ones. Many newer ones are aluminum. If you search for 'license plate art' on Google images, you'll find lots of good ideas for them. I found a great source for license plates with very reasonable prices. If anyone needs any, let me know and I'll send his email address. Linda

I just finished my 3rd birdhouse last night. When I showed them to my quilting buddies, they tried to talk me out of sending them in to the lotto (guess they really liked them:) Must admit to having a whole lot of fun w/this project. What I am doing is starting another batch of blocks. Mine ended up being birdhouses in the different seasons (not sure why, it just happened that way) When I do this next group, I'll do 4 & insert each block into the panes of an old window frame I have. I just need to alter the size slightly to fit the openings. My mom made one that is 4 snowmen & it is so darn cute!! If mine turns out half as good I'll be quite happy:) Going to put my lotto blocks in the mail this weekend so the temptation to keep them is gone!